Jurassic TARDIS
by TARDISTraveller
Summary: The Doctor and Clara are in for a shock when a visit to the prehistoric era reveals an unexpected surprise. What will happen when human science and ancient lifeforms collide? Will everyone make it out of the woods?
1. Chapter 1

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 1

Clara's phone began vibrating for the third time in the five O'Clock hour. Three texts; three different people; one subject: dinosaurs. A smile came over Clara's lips as she read how excited Adrian had been by seeing Jurassic World in cinemas for the second time. It was like it had become people's addiction. After a speedy reply, she set her phone back on the arm of her chair and picked up her steaming cup of coffee. Before she even took a sip, however, there was another buzz. Clara rolled her eyes, but the smirk on her face grew. She was almost annoyed at how often her friends were disturbing her afternoon coffee shop ritual, but in the back of her mind she knew she was just as obsessed as they were.

When she actually looked at her phone, however, she was surprised to find that it was a call from the Doctor. She set her coffee down hastily on the coffee table, allowing it to spill a few drops onto the wood, and pressed the green button quickly. "Doctor?Are you alright?"

The Doctor's puzzled voice came through the speaker. "I was about to ask you the same question."

Clara's eyebrows furrowed. "Why wouldn't I be alright?"

"You're not coming into the TARDIS."

"I'm not home."

"Aren't we going on a trip today?"

Clara's eyes widened as she searched the shop for a calendar. As she squinted at the letters in the distance below the stock picture of lion cubs, a gasp escaped her. "Oh my God; it's Wednesday, isn't it?"

"Of course it's Wednesday. Do humans not keep track of the date anymore?"

Clara fumbled with her free hand for her purse and coffee. "Not while we're on our summer holiday."

Finally situated, Clara began clicking her heels rapidly across the tile and then the pavement, pausing only to hold the door for an elderly man entering the shop as she exited. "I'll be home in a few minutes, alright? Just; stay in the TARDIS. I haven't cleaned up since school let out."

"I don't mind a little mess, Clara"

"Just stay in the TARDIS!" Clara ended the call and tucked her phone into her purse. Her feet seemed to be gliding across the ground at the rate at which she was moving.

Panting heavily, Clara opened the door to her flat to the sight of the tall blue box in the center of her front room. Just as she guessed, articles of clothing she was _not_ keen on the Doctor seeing were strewn across her chair and couch. She silently thanked her past self for warning the Doctor not to leave the TARDIS.

"Sorry for the delay. It's hard to remember what day it is without class."

The Doctor had his hands in his pockets and his eyes looking down at the floor. One shoe seemed to be kicking imaginary dust. Clara sighed. "Doctor..."

The Doctor's gaze focused more intensely on the metal below. "I got curious."

"I specifically asked you not to go out there."

"Sorry."

"What?"

Though he still wouldn't meet her eyes, his head raised up enough for Clara to see that he was serious. "I'm sorry. It was stupid and inconsiderate of me. Won't happen again."

Clara took a step towards the Console, feeling the controls with both hands to make sure this was reality. "You don't sound like yourself."

The Doctor's eyes finally fell on her, but quickly his face blushed pink and he turned down to the closest control panel. "How about you decide where we go today?"

"I picked last week; didn't I?"

"Well, you can have my turn."

Clara raised her eyebrows at the Timelord through the distortion of the Time Rotor. "You're being weird."

"Where would you like to go?"

Clara stepped around the Console, eyes looking to the ceiling as she thought of a good one. Only one thing came to mind. "Dinosaurs."

The Doctor met her gaze and held it this time. "Which ones?"

"Any? All? They're all anyone's talking about since Jurassic World came out."

"Ah; Jurassic World. Begins a whole new dino-craze for all of one summer. Still; successful in it's own right. Inspires many a great paleontologist. By human standards, at least."

"So is that a yes?"

"I never pass up a chance to see dinosaurs, Clara." Clara's smile broadened as the Doctor's hand pulled down a nearby lever and the ship took off.

"I have to get ready."

The Doctor watched Clara's retreating form as he flipped a few more switches. He could swear they had seen dinosaurs together at some point, but he couldn't remember any of the details. Shaking his head, he cursed his old brain and pulled another lever.

Ten minutes later, Clara emerged from one of the TARDIS' winding corridors in full adventurer apparel. Her button down shirt was tied up, revealing a black tank top underneath, and her boots seemed to reach halfway to her khaki shorts. On her shoulders was a green backpack filled to the brim. Her ponytail brushed against it every time she took a step.

"You don't have to wear all of that, you know."

"I've seen those films. Rule one is to be prepared for anything. Come on."

Clara led the way to the doors, pausing for a moment to grab both handles and pull them open slowly. The scene that unfolded between the doors took her breath away. Trees; endless green trees; plants; life. It was like nothing Clara had ever seen before. Strange creatures cawed in the treetops. Shadows rustled in the bushes. It was wonderful and terrifying. Clara took a step out of the box and was glad that she had worn her boots. The whole ground seemed to be covered in a layer of mud.

The Doctor followed slowly behind his companion and closed the doors tightly before jogging to catch up with the enthused young woman who was already ten steps away. "What do you think?"

Clara's mouth was agape as her eyes traced the highest branches she could see. "It's beautiful. There's so much life here."

"No people. No cars. No skyscrapers. Just the Earth and it's first big lifeforms."

A tiny reptilian creature dashed in front of them, disappearing into the shrubs before they could see what it was. "What year is it?"

"150 million years before your time."

Clara gazed around her, turning in a slow circle. Everything was so vivid; so colorful. This was why she loved travelling so much. These were the wonders she always had to see. It was a moment later when she realized the Doctor wasn't standing next to her anymore. A panic rushed through her before her eye caught his coat flopping in the breeze as he dashed away from her. "Doctor!"

She carefully but hastily made her way through the thick weeds and tree roots to where the Doctor had thankfully stopped running. She had a good mind to remind him of the dangers of leaving her behind, but his extended hand and rigid features froze the words in her throat. Reluctantly, she turned her eyes to where he was staring and a broad smile stretched across her face. As silently as she could, she whispered, "Brachiosaurus?" The Doctor's only reply was a slight nod of the head.

The towering creatures were standing in an open field below where Clara and the Doctor were observing. A cliff sat in between the two time travellers and the dinosaurs' enormous bodies, but one long neck was stretching directly in front of them, it's owner taking advantage of the forest's hearty leaves. At least five or six others of its kind were scattered across the vast area, some taking from the few trees in the field, some simply stomping a path towards the crystal blue lake to the far left.

The Doctor took a step closer to the brachiosaurus, and, the cliff. "Be careful!"

He shot a disgruntled look back at Clara, who put a hand over her mouth to keep from talking again, and took another step closer. His right hand reached out, shaking slightly from either excitement or anxiety, but the long neck that had been his target began moving downward. A large eye with an even larger head appeared where there had been a neck a second before, causing Clara to jump back a step or two. The mouth of the dinosaur was chomping heavily on a pile of leaves, seeming more like a cow than any reptile. The Doctor's hand lowered onto the dinosaur's head and he finally relaxed. "Come here, Clara. Feel this."

Though she knew it was harmless, Clara still felt hesitant as her boots edged closer to the Doctor. Finally she turned off the voice in the back of her head and approached the brachiosaurus with an open palm, which she lowered into its head just as the Doctor had done. The scales felt smoother than she thought they would, which brought the smile back to her face. "This is so cool."

The Doctor stroked the dinosaur with the back of his hand and gazed into its beady eyes. "She doesn't get much attention out here."

"That'll never stop being weird."

"What?"

"You; speaking dinosaur. I bet you could have a conversation with a cat."

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows. "Cats are excellent speakers . Better than most of your lot."

Clara cast a sideways glance at the Doctor before shaking her head. "Whatever you say."

"I'll have you know-"

The Doctor's words faded as his eyes widened. The smile fades from Clara's face. "What is it?"

The ground suddenly lurched beneath their feet as the sound of distant footsteps shook them to the core. Clara's eyes bored into the Doctor's as her heart pounded in her chest. They both turned to where the brachiosaurus had been standing and saw that it was gone. In fact, all of the brachiosaurus were gone. In their place stood a tall, menacing dinosaur with a tall ridge on its back and none of the kindness of the herbivore in its eyes. "Ugh, Doctor?"

"TARDIS. Now."

The Doctor and Clara began sprinting as fast as they could back to their beloved time machine. The color blue now represented so much more than the 'sadness' explanation Clara had given to her English classes over the year. It was hope. It was home. It was safety. Her boots barely made contact with the ground as she fled. This wasn't the fear she had felt earlier when the Doctor was in her flat. This was primeval. Instinctive. Life or death. Simple but powerful.

The Doctor slowed his pace to a stop near a tall, proud tree. "Something is wrong."

In between breaths, Clara asked, "How...do you know?"

The Doctor's face had taken on the look he always had when trouble was afoot. Clara hated that look. Eyebrows furrowed. Lips curled in a frown. It only meant bad things. Very bad things. "The Spinosaurus we saw isn't supposed to be here for another 40 million years."

Clara's ears perked up to a strange sound. Familiar, yet impossible. Without any further thought, she followed it. The Doctor hurried after her without protest, though she knew he would probably say something about running off later. The sound grew louder as she stomped through the thick mud and slashed through the heavy foliage.

As they entered the clearing where the TARDIS had landed, their day went from bad to worse. The sound Clara had heard turned out to be, as she had believed, a truck's engine. A human truck. And the humans had loaded the blue box into the bed of the truck. To make matters worse, before either of their brains could process the scene before them, the truck began speeding away down a path that either hadn't been there or hadn't been noticed when they were here earlier.

Arms flailing, the Doctor and Clara raced after the receding truck, calling out as loudly as possible. "Come back!"

"You can't steal my TARDIS!"

The truck's outline disappeared from view and, finally, the Doctor stopped chasing after it. Clara's eyes were bigger than ever before. "What just happened?"

"A group of humans who shouldn't be born for at least another 150 million years just stole our only means of escape and drove away. Weren't you paying attention?"


	2. Chapter 2

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 2

Clara paced back and forth with her hands on her hips as the Doctor leaned against a nearby tree, eyes staring at nothing in particular on the opposite side of the clearing. As she made her third relay back towards him, a fire lit in Clara's eyes. "Ok. Ok. What are we going to do?"

The Doctor pushed himself away from the tree, eyes falling onto the tire tracks still indented in the muddy soil. "We have to go after them."

Clara bit her thumb as her head turned from the Doctor, to the tracks, and back to the Doctor. "Right. Isn't the forest full of dinosaurs? Unfriendly dinosaurs?"

"We're already in the forest. We're practically waiting to be eaten if we stay here."

"Alright; fine; we'll follow the tracks. How far could they have gotten?"

The Doctor gritted his teeth. "Potentially a two day's walk. Maybe more. If they time travelled here, which they must have, they have better technology than anyone in your time could even dream of. They could've gone back to their time, for all we know."

"I was being rhetorical, but thanks for that insight."

The Doctor led the way through the brush, keeping an eye on the path at all times. Clara couldn't help but jump at every screeching bird and rustle in the bushes. Her legs felt like spaghetti and her entire body was shaking from apprehension. This was officially on her list of Trips Never to Take Again. "When we get back, remind me to rewatch all of the Jurassic Park films. Obviously I didn't learn anything from them."

The Doctor spun around and took a few sideways steps down the path. "It's not that bad."

"I guess it's a bit better than last time we met dinos."

The Doctor turned back to the path, eyebrows furrowing. Apparently his brain had more gray areas than he thought. He spun his head around to Clara. "What happened last time?"

Clara caught up with him, stepping twice as often but clearing just as much ground as he. "It was right after you regenerated. The TARDIS was crashing; you landed us in a T-Rex's mouth...you really don't remember?"

"Vaguely."

"Well, to be fair, you were pretty out of it that day."

"Clara..."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"No; _Clara_."

A branch came crashing down behind them. Clara froze where she stood as the Doctor turned with bated breath. His mouth fell open, eyes widening. "Stay. Completely. Still."

The ground shook menacingly as the time travellers held their breath. Clara knew exactly what dinosaur the Doctor was facing. A T-Rex. The mother of all dinosaurs. And, if she was correct, not in the correct time period. This day was not going exactly as she had planned it would.

The Doctor didn't dare blink as the T-Rex took another step towards him, toppling trees like blades of grass as it walked. His hearts were pounding so hard in his chest that the tyrannical reptile could probably hear them.

Another step; another small earthquake. The dinosaur's shadow completely covered the Doctor and Clara in make matters worse, the T-Rex began slowly lowering it's colossal head down to his level. He could only hope that it actually was as blind as everyone said it was. Right now it didn't seem likely.

The dinosaur's mouth edged open, revealing sixty razor sharp teeth that were each the size of the Doctor's hand. With its jaw completely lowered, its mouth was roughly the size of Clara. Suddenly, the T-Rex emitted a deafening roar that echoed through the forest. The Doctor shut his eyes. At least Clara's back was turned. Maybe she wouldn't see him be ripped apart.

A strange, cough-like bark came from the trees to the right of the T-Rex. Clara forced herself not to move, just in case, but a moment later, it was clear that they weren't going to be eaten quite yet. The T-Rex was instead occupied by two small, feathery velociraptors, who seemed adamant on taking down the big dino on their own. As the T-Rex dealt with its newest adversaries, the Doctor pried his eyes open, taking Clara's hand almost immediately. "Run. While they're distracted."

He spun to where his companion was standing stock still, eyes unblinking towards the fight that was occurring before her eyes.

"Go!"

Clara shook herself out of her daze and forced her legs forward, the doctor right in her heels. The thick plant life and speed at which they were travelling made it difficult to eye the path. Adrenaline spurred their bodies forward and over a few fallen trees. The dinosaurs battled on behind them. Their occasional groans and roars could probably be heard all over the forest. Clara and the Doctor kept running.

It had been a long time since either of them had run quite this far. Those morning Clara had gone on with Danny seemed like a literal walk in the park compared to this. Chest aching. Heart racing. Throat sore. Legs flailing across the ground like noodles. Whoever told her running was fun was a liar and a scoundrel.

When the sounds of conflict began fading from his ears, the Doctor began slowing his pace, ushering Clara with a hand to do the same. They came to a stop beside an ungrounded tree taller than anything Clara had seen on Earth. The Doctor sat on this tree while Clara leaned on her knees for support. Neither spoke, but silence was far away. Fast, sharp intakes of breath displayed the exhaustion of a long run. Various howls and roars sounded from the network of tree surrounding them.

Light was coming through the leaves of these trees, falling through the cracks and creating patterns on the fallen tree and the grass near it. Clara watched the shadows dance as the wind rustled the trees. She breathed in the fresh air with greedy lungs.

The Doctor's eyes were stuck on the tire-cut path. It was as if it would disappear if he looked away, even for a moment. The grass here was flat and pushed over. Cut up. Broken. Muddy dirt sloshed in between the blades. Indented markings showed where the ridges of tire had dug into the earth. The Doctor scowled.

This moment of peace ended slowly and wearily. It wasn't a growl or a bang that ended it; more, a simple gesture. A standing up. A glance to a companion. A step along the disheveled ground in front of them.

They proceeded this way for a long time. Silent. Eyes either to the ground or straight in front. An occasional upwards look, searching for sky. They knew what dangers lurked in these woods now. They didn't need to speak of them.

Just as the noontime sun glared through the topmost leaves, a new interest came into the Doctor's eyes. A gray dot appeared in the midst of the endless green that he had become accustomed to.

A building. Tall. Metallic. So far in the distance that it could've been a mirage. A sign of hope in this endless abyss of a jungle.

"Doctor; is that what I think it is?"

"Possibly."

The building continued to grow in front of them; a temple rising into the heavens. The last thirty meters were spent in a silent prayer of thanks to all the gods they had ever heard of. Clara's lips stretched from ear to ear.

"We made it."

The Doctor didn't share the gleeful smile of his companion. In fact, he had seemed more at peace when the T-Rex had towered over him. His attack eyebrows were in full force. His blue eyes were full of an icy chill that was saved only for the worst beings in the universe.

"We may be out of the literal woods, Clara, but we aren't out of the metaphorical ones."

"What makes you say that?"

"Whoever's in that building is either very lost or very dangerous. I tend to believe the latter."


	3. Chapter 3

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 3

"Should we knock?"

Clara's voice felt tiny against the cold, unforgiving metal walls of the base. There stood a locked garage on the left side of the base and a small gray door standing directly in front of them. A door to new discoveries. A door to new problems.

The Doctor's only response was the whir of the sonic screwdriver and the unlatching of the doorlock. As they walked inside, the Doctor acting as if he owned the place and Clara glancing anxiously around the room, the eyes of all five scientists in the building widened at the new arrivals. Four jaws dropped. One pair of lips scowled. The door slammed shut.

They were each frozen behind their metal lab tables. Against the left side wall was an empty velociraptor cage. A buzzing machine sat in the back of the room emitting a faint blue light. The only windows were two small rectangles in the wall above the machine.

The owner of the scowl was the first to move. His heavy boots thudded against the floor panels, sending vibrations through all the other occupants of the room. His head was bald but his face was rough and unshaven. He stood even taller than the Doctor and made it a point to show it. Clara already didn't like him. "Who are you, then?"

A young woman no older than Clara took a step from behind the desk she was working at. She held one hand in the other, rubbing a thumb across the back of her hand as she spoke. "Doctor Caine-"

Caine spun around to his associate. "We can't afford niceness out here. Now. You two. How did you get here? Were you sent from a different corporation? Who do you work for?"

Clara bit her lip and looked to the Doctor for answers, but he was busy working out the man standing in front of him. Friend or foe? Good or bad? To lie or to tell the truth?

A slip of psychic paper dropped in front of the scientist's face. "John Smith. We're...expedition inspectors."

Clara nodded along. The man's scowl shifted into a sneer. "Yeah, right. I know psychic paper when I see it. What are you two after?"

"Just the truth."

The woman behind Caine adjusted her glasses and stepped forward. "Perhaps we should give them the benefit of the doubt?"

"Fine." Caine threw one last glare towards the time travelers and turned back to his employees. "Back to work. Nothing to see here."

A red-haired man with piercing blue eyes whispered anxiously, "But sir; how can they possibly-"

"Riley, relax. I'll find out what's going on." Riley lowered himself into his chair and forced his eyes towards his computer screen. The other two scientists followed suit.

The woman shook both the Doctor and Clara's hands before casting an anxious glance back at her boss. "Sorry about him. Not many visitors in 150 million B.C.. I'm Haley. Dr. Haley West. And you are?"

The Doctor's distant expression was rigid and calculating. Clara smiled enough for both of them and replied,"I'm Clara and this is the Doctor."

"Doctor...?"

Again, Clara responded for the time lord. "Just the Doctor." Clara turned a raised brow towards the Doctor and plucked the sleeve of his elbow. Finally he blinked out of his daze and looked at Dr. West.

"What's this base for?"

"Research."

"But researching what?"

"Dinosaurs, of course! We were sent here to see how different dinosaurs interacted with each other. Some of them are a bit out of time. We had to bring them here manually."

The Doctor nodded along. "That would explain the Spinosaurus."

Though the Doctor seemed satisfied, if a bit perturbed, Clara's mind was reeling with questions. "Sorry; why did you want to see them in a different time period?"

Before Haley could answer, the Gallifreyan's rough Scottish burr was cutting through the air like a knife. "Because they could."

"Is that true?"

Dr. West was lost for words. "Well, we, ugh, you see..."

"They got bored. Wanted to test Mother Nature. Give a scientist a lab and a time machine and they'll never know when to stop."

"Is that what happened to you?"

Clara's question was met with a flash of a smile, but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared and now an 'Oncoming Storm' look was written all over the Doctor's face. Caine had been listening to their entire conversation and was now pacing furiously towards his strange adversaries. "What are you trying to say, Doctor?"

"I can't let you keep doing this."

Caine's lips curled into a challenging smirk. "Is that a threat?"

"Only if you're stupid enough to continue."

The smirk turned again into a frown as Caine stepped beside the Doctor and locked his arms behind his back roughly. "Someone get the girl!"

"You're throwing nature off of it's course. You don't even understand the implications it'll have on history. If you don't listen to me, your entire future is at stake!"

Clara noticed the scientists share a worried glance before Haley ran over to her and forced her hands behind her back. A whispered apology came in her ears.

Caine pulled the Doctor closer to his enormous body. "I don't know who you are, Doctor, but you aren't stopping me. This mission will be completed and our studies will make history. We'll be world renowned scientists before we're even born.."

The Time Lord and his companion were shoved towards the empty dino cage. Four feet skidded across the floor reluctantly. Two scientists held their prisoner's arms tightly. One was angry. The other was simply terrified.

The former shoved the Doctor to the floor of the cage without care as the latter gave Clara a light push. The door locked behind them with a bang. Caine turned away without another word. Haley gave Clara one last apologetic look before hurrying back to her desk.

The Doctor sat up, resting his back on the brutal metal bars of the cage. Clara sat beside him. She could practically hear his mind buzzing with plans of escape.

After a few seconds of catching their breath, Clara muttered, "I almost miss the forest of dinosaurs right now."

"Humans trying to earn their five minutes of fame: nothing can be more dangerous."


	4. Chapter 4

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 4

The Doctor and Clara sat uncomfortably with their heads spinning for another twenty minutes. Caine had taken Clara's backpack and the Doctor's Sonic, so they were left with very little to work with if they ever got an opportunity to escape. The scientists were all sat quietly at their desks, occasionally muttering something to a coworker or standing to retrieve a paper from the printer. Nervous energy had covered everyone, including Caine, though he was too proud to show it.

Clara's eyes were glued to the bag that she had brought, now lying forgotten in the corner by the door. The Sonic was inside. She had watched Caine drop it in there without thinking twice about it. He had to be the least curious scientist she had ever met.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had taken an interest in Haley West's change in behavior since their capture. Her eyes were trained on her computer screen, but she wasn't reading anything. In fact, she had been staring at the same webpage for over fifteen minutes, glancing over partially towards the Doctor and Clara every now and again, but never allowing herself to make eye contact with either of them. Whatever Caine was up to, none of his people seemed too happy to be following him. The Doctor made a mental note to ask Haley about it later. She seemed to be most affected by the dictator-like ruling of the base.

Just as the day's work seemed to be ending and everyone began logging out of their computer accounts, the eerie sound of crashing timber echoed from the other side of the door-side wall. All seven heads turned sharply to the door, eyes widening. Caine took a step forward, swiping a nearby gun off of the wall as he passed it. The Doctor stood and gripped the bars of the cage, knuckles turning white from the pressure. Haley's eyes darted from her computer to the door, wide and searching. The sound of a pin would've been heard in the silence of the room.

Slowly, in an almost theatrical way, Caine turned his head to face the Doctor and Clara. "Did you happen to lock the door after you came in?"

Clara's heart dropped to her stomach as her fear spiked to new heights. The handle of the door began turning. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. No way. But it was.

The door was shoved open from the other side with a force that shocked the velociraptor and the humans equally. This gave the scientists just an extra second to get up and hurry to the back wall, sparing their lives for at least another second or two. When the dinosaur cleared it's head and began tapping it's claws against the floor, Caine raised his tranquilizer gun and fired, hitting the creature in the neck.

The effect of the dart was seemingly nonexistent. In fact, at first it only served to spur the dino into action faster. Confused and angry, it ran haphazardly towards the wall of scientists, scattering them to all corners and sides of the small base. One unlucky man, who had been doing his work dutifully even in the awkwardness of the past half hour, became the sole target.

Though he succeeded in avoiding the velociraptor the first time it lunged for him, he wasn't quick enough to jump for a second time. Screams and a painful thrashing sound jolted all of the others into a panic for the exit. Only Caine, Haley, the Doctor, and Clara remained.

Caine took one quick glance at the preoccupied dinosaur. He tried not to think about what exactly it was preoccupied with. "Haley, come on! Out; now!"

Haley West began following her boss out the door, but froze halfway across the metal grating. Caine ran on but paused at the doorway to turn angrily to his employee. "Hurry up!"

His glare hardly invoked any inspiration. Haley turned back to the locked up people she had been talking to not an hour before hand. Average people. Kind. Good. She couldn't let them die. Not without trying to save them.

After a moment's pause and a quick peep at the dinosaur in the back of the room, she spurred into action. In one motion, she grabbed the backpack from the corner and unzipped it, revealing dozens of small objects and tools. The Doctor called out from behind the bars, "Get my screwdriver."

Through gritted teeth, Haley muttered, "Give me a mo'. There's a lot in here."

Finally, Haley pulled out the green tipped device and passed it through the bars of the cage to the anxious time lord. As he pressed the button and the lock jumped open, the dinosaur's head perked up. Clara nearly shoved the Doctor out of the gate as two scaled legs started towards them. Clara and Haley surged forward to the door while the Doctor stayed beside the open door of the cage, buzzing the Sonic above his head. "Doctor, come on!"

The velociraptor had picked up speed and was now heading straight for the annoying whir of the screwdriver, and the scrawny Time Lord that stood beneath it. Clara bit her lip to keep from shouting again. She had learned to trust her friend, even when his plans seemed ridiculously stupid.

Just as the dinosaur made to grab the screwdriver with its sharp teeth, the Doctor stretched his arm over the top of the cage, forcing the big reptile to run through the door to get closer to it. It scratched against the metal bars on the roof of the cage as the Doctor maneuvered to the front and slammed the doors shut, keeping the Dino's attention on the Sonic until he had to use the device to lock the doors. Finally, the whirring sound ended and the Doctor was able to take a step back, catching his breath.

Haley beamed with excitement as the Doctor sauntered towards the door. "That was amazing!"

The Doctor's companion seemed less enthused. She stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and one eye on the now caged dinosaur. "Amazingly dangerous. It almost took your arm off!"

"I had it under control."

"Do you even try to survive anymore?"

Haley stepped unceremoniously out the door. The Doctor allowed a small smile to creep into his face.

"Thanks for your concern, teach, but as you can see-"

"Don't give me that. Not right now." Clara turned to the wall to blink away the tears that were forming in her eyes. After a deep breath, she turned to the genius of an idiot in front of her. "I don't want to lose you."

The Doctor was stupefied. He was supposed to be the worried one. They weren't supposed to take care of him. "Clara..."

He didn't know what to say. He wasn't good with the words and the feelings. Slowly, he took her hand in his and leaned closer. "Clara Oswald, I'll never stop trying to survive while you're here."

They shared a second in each other's stare before Caine's voice rang out from the forest outside. "Can we get to making a plan, people? We do still have a bit of a dino-dilemma to deal with."

Clara and the Doctor walked out of the base hand in hand. As the door shut behind them, the velociraptor barked out once more. It's final cough seemed to reverberate through the entire forest, calling all other dinosaurs to its aid. The tiny group of humans and Time Lord shivered.


	5. Chapter 5

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 5

"The sun's starting to go down."

This simple sentence uttered by the Doctor flooded Clara's mind with every anxious thought she had been suppressing since they had arrived in the forest. Her eyes stared unblinkingly at a point in the trees ahead as the small group shuffled the leaves under their feet. One pair of footsteps edged closer to her. "Clara?"

A hand touched her shoulder, jumping her back into the present with a flurry of adrenaline. She spun around to see the Doctor's quizzical glance staring her down. "We have to get moving. Our battle with the raptor probably called half the jungle to this place."

Clara blinked a few times to focus, then joined the scientists and the Doctor on the tire-created path through the woods. They walked on in silence for a mile or two. Nobody could really tell how far they had gone. Every tree looked the same. Every leaf blurred into another. After yet another screech of a distant dinosaur made them all shudder with dread, Clara stepped closer to the Doctor, gripping his sleeve with shaking fingers.

Time drifted on and the sun continued it's downward trip over the horizon. The treetops glistened with the orange glow of sunset. Plants that had been vivid colors just moments before were fading into their nighttime shades of gray and black. Caine led the group into a clearing and finally stopped. "We're going to have to build camp for the night. Billings, you and Feldman collect some firewood. West, get some water from the spring we just passed. Carry it back in those two water bottles you always keep in your lab coat. Scott, you and I'll set up camp. Meet back here when you're finished."

The scientists went into action without protest as the Doctor and Clara stood awkwardly on the outer rim of the clearing. Clara cleared her throat loudly. "What are we supposed to do, then?"

Caine barely glanced at the young teacher. "Just sit over there and don't make any trouble."

They lowered themselves complying onto the rough soil, but not before the Doctor threw an angry eyebrow towards the dictator. "You're going to have to trust us eventually."

"You've made it very clear that you don't believe in our work. Once this is all over, I expect you to get back in your box and go far away from here without argument. Is that understood?"

The Doctor made no reply. Instead, he cast his eyes down to the foliage beneath him and allowed his back to relax against the bark of the tree he sat in front of. Clara did the same beside him. "How are we gonna get out of this one?"

"A thing will probably happen. And when it does, we'll have to gain the upper hand."

"That's it? That's your plan?"

"I know; needs work. Haven't got many options right now, though."

Clara pursed her lips as she looked away from her companion and into the trees ahead, where West was returning with the water. With droopy eyelids, Clara watched the woman set the filled bottles of water down beside Caine and rest against a nearby tree. Meanwhile, Caine and Scott were busy pulling the larger leaves off of the trees and scattering them on the ground for bedding. Clara had to admit he was good under pressure.

Tiredness overwhelmed her as she drifted into sleep. The Doctor smiled faintly when he felt Clara's head rest on his shoulder. "Sleep well, Clara. We've a big adventure ahead of us."

The Doctor watched on as the other scientists returned and an orange fire was lit in the center of the clearing. Shadows danced among the humans and the trees while everyone took turns drinking out of the water bottles. Eventually, Haley West stood and carried the last quarter of the second bottle over towards the Doctor. It tasted like the most beautifully created water of all time against his dry throat. West squatted beside him as he drank. "Sorry about earlier. You know what Caine's like."

"Why do you all stay with him in this place?"

West smiled, but her eyes glowed sadly in the firelight. "It wasn't always like this. We had a different leader. Our base got attacked one night and he..he didn't make it."

The scientist pushed her memories away and stood once more. "Anyway, we better get some sleep. Caine's gonna want us up early tomorrow so we can think up a plan. Goodnight."

As she sauntered back to her pile of leaves, the Doctor caught her wipe at her eye. Humans. Smiling even though they're sad. He'd never understand them.

Though he wouldn't need sleep for another week or so, the Doctor leaned into Clara's soft brown hair and closed his eyes, searching his mind for a plan that would get them all home safely. The snores of the scientists growled through the night air as a quiet reminder that there were more lives at stake than just his and Clara's. Maybe, just maybe, if he was really lucky, he could save them all.

After a few hours watching the trees and shadows play in the moonlight, the Doctor heard the faint sound of footsteps coming from the far side of the clearing, close to where Scott and Caine lay sleeping. Carefully, the Timelord maneuvered around Clara and set her back and head against the tree trunk. He stood slowly, keeping low and listening intently. Another rustle from the branches confirmed his theory and caused a flurry of nerves wracking through his body. How would he get everyone up and out of there without the dinosaur attacking? Where would they go next?

A small figure hopped out of the bushes beside Scott, who rolled over, still sleeping. The Doctor took a silent step closer and stood up to his full height, eyebrow raising slightly. By the moon's light, the small outline of a Dodo bird stood staring up at him. The Doctor let out a nervous laugh. All that tension for this? In a matter of scones, he was beside the small bird, stroking its feathers gently, whispering so as not to wake Caine, who lay snoring only a few meters away. "Now, then, you're a bit out of time. Don't worry. I'll sort it out soon enough."

They sat in the darkness of the jungle for a few minutes before the Dodo dashed back into the bushes, leaving the Doctor on his own once more. He sat staring at his hands, bony and pale in the odd coloring of the night. Caine rolled over and opened his eyes to find the alien's hands directly in front of his face. His frown came onto his face instantly. "What the hell are you doing?"

The Doctor jumped at the sudden voice breaking his silent paradise, but quickly found his own grumpy side."Why did you bring a Dodo here?"

Caine sat up and pointed threateningly at the Doctor's chest. "I told you why we're here and I'm not explaining myself again. If you were smart, you wouldn't bring it up again. Who are you, anyway, to come in here and order us around?"

The Doctor's pale face had flushed even paler. Eyes wide, he was staring beyond the tree in the clearing where Clara was slowly waking, his entire body tense. "Caine..."

Caine leaned in even closer to the Doctor, oblivious to the fact that all of his employees were now awake and staring at the same place in the jungle. "Don't you say my name like I'm a child. If you don't learn your place soon..."

"Caine!"

"What?"

Scott grabbed his boss' arm roughly and spun him around. Caine's jaw dropped. Directly behind the tree where Clara sat trembling stood the largest dinosaur he had ever seen. T-Rex. A real T-Rex. Caine had seen many things. Lost many people. But none to this beast. Nothing could compare. Those teeth. That jaw. Hope was gone.

Clara's eyes bore into the Doctor's. Through the night, he silently mouthed, 'Don't move', but she couldn't hope to see him in this light. The dinosaur took a thundering step forward, crashing Clara's tree to it's side. Clara's scream went straight through the Doctor and rested in his hearts. "Clara!"

Both Caine and Scott were forced to grab the Doctor's arms before he could run any further into the clearing, but it was too late. His voice had alerted the T-Rex.

The dino began it's journey through the small space as the scientists and the Doctor ran in every direction away from it. Caine shoved Scott out of his way as he dashed for the trees. The Doctor was already sprinting in the opposite direction when he saw the poor scientist go down at his employer's hands. Scott closed his eyes and breathed heavily as two large feet came crashing towards him. The Doctor cringed as the man cried out his final words.

The Doctor's brain was working twice as haphazardly as usual, a messy jumble of hypotheses and imagination as opposed to the clear facts of its usual state. Was Clara okay? Was she hurt? Was she...no. Of course not. Not Clara. Never Clara.

A hand touched his arm, making him gasp and jump ten feet in the air. "Sorry; it's just me."

Haley's eyes were full of both fear and determination. "Scott is..."

"Yes. I know."

"We need to get everyone together again. The T-Rex is gone, so we can go back into the clearing."

"Right. Good. Let's do that." The Doctor's eyes were still out of focus. Haley touched a hand to his arm again. He only slightly flinched.

"I'm sure Clara is fine. How about you go look for her and you both can meet us in a few minutes?"

They nodded to each other and Haley walked off to find her coworkers. The Doctor took a deep breath, then spurred into action, ripping through leaves and branches, until his gaze landed on the broken tree. He paused only for a second to pray to anyone who would listen before slowly approaching the scene, hearts racing. "Clara?"

He took another few steps towards the tree. Half was still standing, but half had fallen over completely, it's branches laying broken and shattered on the ground. "Clara?"

The Doctor walked along the length of the tree, fear rising with each step.

"Doctor?"

Her voice called him down to the side of the tree, under a branch that hadn't broken off the tree. He was on his knees beside her in an instant. "Clara! Are you alright?"

She slowly pushed herself away from the branch, face contorting with effort as her leg failed to budge. "I think I'm stuck."

The Doctor hopped to his feet and hurried to where the branch had the least leaves, then gripped it and began raising it slowly, struggling against the weight of it with his less-than-Herculean physique. Finally the branch lifted above Clara's leg enough for her to get it out. The Doctor let the branch drop beside him and joined Clara on the ground. "You okay?"

Clara answered with a sarcastic smile. "Terrific."

They sat gazing around the dark, eerie night, waiting for the sun to rise over this dreary, menacing nightmare.


	6. Chapter 6

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 6

As Clara and the Doctor caught their breath, the scientists were losing theirs. Muffled shouting echoed through the branches of the fallen tree from the clearing. Haley was struggling to keep Billings and Feldman calm.

"He's mad! Did you see him?"

"He practically killed Scott!"

"Why the hell are we out here anyway? What is the point anymore?"

Dr. West was at the head of their little gang, shushing them when their voices grew too loud, empathising with their grief for their lost comrade. Scott had been a good guy. Always on time for work. First to point out a success; last to accept a defeat. Their crew wouldn't have stayed sane if he hadn't been there to cheer them on through their failures.

The Doctor and Clara came fumbling into their circle, hand in hand. Their clothes were torn in places but mostly just downright dirty. Mud had slid into every crevice so that they looked about as clean as a pig after a mud bath. Still, they were alive and healthy, which was all that could be hoped for in this place. The Doctor took control as even West looked to him for encouragement. "We need to get back to the base. It's no safer out here than it is back there. I can get you all to safety and then sort out all of... _this."_ On the word 'this', he gestured to the trees looming darkly to his left. Before they could even think, however, a pair of footsteps came trudging through the forest floor. All eyes fell on the new figure. All brows creased in stern hatred.

Haley was the first to go charging towards Caine. "You have no right coming back here."

Caine's eyes widened slightly. There was something more innocent in him now. He was terrified. Just as terrified as the rest of them. The others didn't care. Billings and Feldman joined West in her pursuit. Tears were still stuck to both faces.

The Doctor finally interceded, stepping between the scientists and their boss without a second thought. "Wait, wait, wait. You don't want to do this."

Billings turned his glare towards the Timelord. "He killed Scott. You think we're gonna let him get away with that?"

"Don't stoop to his level."

Feldman took a step closer to the Doctor. "Aw, don't give me that."

West froze in her place and shook her head. "He's right, guys. We can't be like him. We have to be better."

Billings put a hand on Haley's shoulder. "We are better. He killed a _good_ man. We're not that low."

West shoved Billings' hand off of her arm. "I'm not having some morality crisis. Don't treat me like a child when you're acting like one. You both need to pull yourselves together, alright?"

Billings and Feldman gazed at their shoes as West looked up at the Doctor. "He's all yours."

"Mine? What about you?"

West took a step away, dragging her coworkers beside her. "I don't trust myself with him."

The Doctor paused for a second and then spun away from the scientists, focusing all of his glare on Caine, who seemed shorter at this second. "Now; you. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you into the jungle on your own."

Clara shivered at the Doctor's tone. It wasn't everyday he talked like this. He was furious. Livid even. Caine needed to watch his mouth.

"I didn't mean to push him. I was running and-"

"Yeah, yeah, way beyond that now. What do you have that you're not telling me?"

A puzzled expression came upon Caine, who glanced anxiously at Clara and back to the Doctor. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on; I know you're hiding something. You're too protective of yourself. You're eyes are always going left. Just tell me what it is."

Caine closed his eyes for a moment, then resigned. "I have a tracker. It's in each of the dinosaurs that we've brought here. We can use it to get us back to the base."

"Where is it?"

Caine dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a metal tablet-like device, handing it to the Doctor with definite hesitation. The Doctor scanned the tracker with his Sonic, muttering swears under his breath as the screen went fuzzy. "I don't know the proper setting."

Clara stepped beside the Doctor and looked at the tracker. "Can you try a bunch and see what works?"

"That could take up to a hundred years. By then we'd all be dino dinner."

"Not to mention very old."

"Right. You're already getting up there in age. Don't want to push your lifespan."

Clara pursed her lips as the Doctor walked off with the tracker, still fiddling uselessly with the buttons. Caine followed carefully. "So how do we fix it?"

"I need to scan one of the dinosaur trackers. That'll tell me what setting to use. Then I can lead us straight back to the base."

Caine's eyes widened once more. "You mean...?"

The Doctor's eyes lit up with dark excitement. "I need you to catch me a dinosaur."


	7. Chapter 7

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 7

Caine's jaw dropped to the grassy floor. "Catch a...you want _me_ to catch a dinosaur?"

The Doctor barely took any notice of the head scientist's anxiety as he pressed a few more buttons on the scanner. "That's not a problem, is it?"

The Doctor blew on the scanner screen and wiped it with his sleeve. Caine's face was turning a dark shade of red. "You're out of your mind!"

At this final remark, the Doctor's cool exterior disappeared. His head shot up, all patience gone from his menacing stare. His hand dropped to his side, fingers turning white from his grip on the scanner. "Listen to me, Caine. Your entire crew is ready to kill you. I'm only keeping you alive because I know that deep down there might be some good left in you. If you want to go into that jungle by yourself and find your own way back, that's fine by me. But if you want to stay with us, you are going to listen to every word I tell you. Is that clear?"

Caine's every muscle was stiff from nerves. His eyes were unblinking from fear. The Doctor leaned in even closer. "I said: is that clear?"

"Y-yes." The Doctor turned away sharply and joined the scientists and Clara. Cain let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding before casting a wary glare in the Doctor's direction. When the disgruntled physician's head turned just slightly towards Caine once more, the scientist grabbed his gun off of the grass and wandered a few steps into the jungle, cursing the madness of the new leader as his eyes searched for one of his prized specimens.

It seemed two hours had passed when Caine finally heard the menacing rustle of branches in the bushes in front of him. He had sat leaned against an ancient tree in the first half hour, with the scientists and time travelers huddled around a wider, more fruit-filled tree a little later. They had all gone silent upon entering the wood and were now on the very edge of their leafy seats. Another bush rustled, even closer to Caine. Then another, directly beside Billings. The Doctor's eyes locked onto the terrified young man's as the leaves shook once more. "Don't...move."

Somehow, the Doctor's low Scottish burr failed to pacify Billings, who was now close to hyperventilating from the lack of oxygen he was allowing himself. Sweat dripped down his forehead and his eyes flickered closed. He didn't wish to see his own demise.

Out of the bushes, finally, sprang a velociraptor, not unlike the one from the vacated science lab. Instantly, The Doctor pulled Clara up and into the clearing and West scraped Billings up from the ground, his legs shaky and needing of support from his strong and crisis trained coworker. They were in the clearing beside the Doctor and a wide-eyes Clara when West's heart plummeted to her stomach. "Feldman. Was he on your side of the tree? Doct-?"

A scream cut her off, leaving painful silence in its wake. Billings let his legs falter beneath his weight as he sank to the flowers below him. Haley sat beside him, holding his hand in hers as tightly as she possibly could. Clara looked up to the Doctor, whose face had gone rigid in anger. Proper, end of the line anger. The kind of anger he fought Daleks with.

The sound of a science-fiction-like raygun forced Clara out of her reverie. The Doctor set off in its direction, the school teacher eagerly following right behind. When they reached the tree they had been peacefully resting beside only moments before, they found the eerie, somehow mystifying sight of Caine squatted down beside an unconscious dinosaur. His gun lay leaned against the tree, it's setting set to 'stun'. The Doctor soon joined him on the ground, hand passing lightly over the tracker wrapped around the velociraptor's neck. Using the Sonic, he scanned the device and then plotted the information in the scanner still held in his hand. As he jumped to his feet and headed into the clearing, Clara chasing wearily behind, Caine scooped up his weapon and trudged slowly behind. Billings and West both turned their heads to the Timelord as he entered the clearing, both with faint tears stains resting in their cheeks, but eyes full of determination.

"I've found the path back to your base. I think I know how we can get the dinosaurs back to their time."

West stood quickly. "And us?"

The Doctor glanced from West to Billings. "That was implied, yes."

The scientists shared a knowing smile before Caine cut into the middle of their gang. "Wait, wait, wait. You're still trying to ruin my experiment?"

The Doctor's eyebrows furrowed. They had decided they didn't like this guy. "Are you still trying to continue it? Remember what I told you earlier, Caine. One wrong move and you're on your own."

If the scientists was going to refute, he thought better of it. Following the Doctor, whose eyes were glued to the scanner, the small party plodded into the forest, a small glimmer of hope resting in their hearts.


	8. Chapter 8

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 8

They continued like this for another two hours, the Doctor in the front, staring at his device and only glancing up to avoid walking into trees; Clara trudging through weeds behind him, struggling to keep up; West and Billings casting anxious looks everywhere they heard strange noises; and Caine in the back, silent, keeping a tight grip on his stun gun. When the building finally came into view, the entire party nearly cheered, except that they were exhausted, and quickened their pace to a run. Maybe they weren't safe yet; maybe they still had a lot to do; but they were at least back in their known territory. They were back to the lab. Back to the TARDIS and the teleporter that had brought them here. One step away from home.

The Doctor Soniced the door and it burst open, sparks flying haphazardly onto the ground. The velociraptor in the cage turned to them as they entered, making everyone jump from surprise. "Forgot he was still here!" West calmed her breathing as Caine shot the dinosaur with a stunner. The reptile slowly but surely drifted onto the floor of the cage and fell asleep.

The Doctor hurried towards the teleporter, scanner still in hand, and began looking over the controls. "If I can find the right frequency and connect the tracker to the teleporter, I think I can get the dinosaurs back to their own time."

The Doctor got to work, fiddling with the tracker and twisting cables around. Clara approached him slowly, legs beginning to cave in to the weariness they had been feeling all afternoon. "Can Haley and I go check on the TARDIS? I think we can both go for a nap right about now."

Without looking up from the scanner, the Doctor replied, "Go ahead. Make sure they didn't do any damage while they were taking her here."

Clara raised an eyebrow at the 'her' but turned back to Haley without comment. "Do you want to see our ship?"

West smiled earnestly at Clara. "Of course. It is bigger than it looks, right?"

Clara guided Haley through the door to the garage, both women smiling from ear to ear. God, they had missed the feeling of not being in doom.

The Doctor connected a wire from the tracker to the teleporter, both machines sending out a signal once they were fully connected. "Now we're getting somewhere."

After Sonicing the tracker, the Doctor pressed a few buttons, sending a signal to all of the dinosaur's individual tracking devices. The lights on the screen blinked into his eyes, telling him exactly where the displaced dinosaurs were.

All the while, Caine had been watching the Doctor with growing irritation and annoyance. Who was this man - Caine's prisoner - to take control? To abort the mission? To tell him how things would be done?

The Doctor's smug grin at his latest accomplishment brought Caine over to the Timelord, fists clenched, frown returned. The Doctor looked up at his new companion, smile fading slightly. "All I have to do now is connect one last thing to the teleporter; then all this will be over. You'll be home in no time."

Caine silently scooped his gun off the floor with one hand. "I don't want to go home. I want to complete my research."

Caine's gun whacked into the Doctor's temple with a blinking crack. Before the Timelord could even react, he was knocked out cold and on the dirty floor. The new wound to his head had already started bleeding.

Caine took the tracker from floor beside the Doctor and looked it over before chuckling to himself. He would get what he wanted. He always had and he always would. Caine would be the most famous scientist of all time.


	9. Chapter 9

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 9

When the Doctor awoke, the first thing he felt was the ache in his forehead where the butt of Caine's gun had hit him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, grimacing as daylight streamed into his pained senses. His ears were shouting - no. That was Clara. Clara was shouting.

"What did you do to him? Why are you tying me up? I thought you'd changed."

"You thought I'd let him ruin my experiment? Throw away all that I've put into this project?"

Caine's rough voice cut into Clara's pained grunts as he tied her up to a tree across from the Doctor. It was only now that the Timelord realized he, too, was tied up tightly to a large, unyielding trunk. As he took a step back, Clara struggled against the ropes, but to no avail. The Doctor glanced sideways and found the other two scientists in the same predicament as he. At least they were all together.

Clara made one last heroic attempt against her bindings before letting herself have a break. "People have died. When will you admit that this needs to end?"

Caine took a menacing step towards the Doctor's companion, causing the Oncoming Storm within him to scratch to the surface of his being. "When I'm the most revered scientist in the field of paleontology; that's when."

Out of his pocket, Caine pulled the Sonic Screwdriver. Holding it teasingly in his hand, he took out another, final, rope from a different pocket and began tying it around the small device. "Just because you've all driven me mad today, I'm going to do the same to you."

He reached to a spot above Clara's head and tied the Sonic around the tree trunk, leaving a portion of rope stuck on the button. The whirring already pricked their minds with annoyance. The Doctor gritted his teeth against the pain that was now being doubled. "Why are you doing this? Why can't you just make us leave?"

"Ah, the great Doctor awakes. If you must know; I'm testing out my equipment. You see, while you were asleep and they were exploring your silly time machine, I was retorting the system. The tracker is now sending the dinosaurs directly to the Sonic, instead of my teleporter. As long as that button is pressed, they will be compelled directly to this spot."

The Doctor closed his eyes. His vision had started going blurry anyway. "Yes, but why are we out here?"

Caine looked at each of his prisoners. "I need to study how they behave when given fresh food. Will they fight each other? Steal it away and hide it somewhere? All important questions, Doctor."

Clara was shaking harder than he ever had. This man was pure insanity defined. He was the cruelest person she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. She could only pray that he wouldn't also be one of the last people she ever met. Still, though, she was Clara Oswald, the Impossible Girl, so she wasn't going to die without letting herself be heard. Even if it was by a nutter. "Didn't get good marks in ethics, did you?"

Caine slowly turned his gaze toward the young teacher. "I believe the end justifies the means, Miss Clara."

The Doctor opened his eyes just enough to watch Caine. If he so much as looked at Clara the wrong way, the Doctor was prepared to rip through the bonds to hurt the man, no matter how impossible that might be. "Science without ethics isn't science; it's cruelty. Science is supposed to make you love the environment and all life forms that belong to it. Especially your own species."

Caine shook his head at the Doctor. "I don't have time for your lectures. I'm sending a message to our company. Telling them to send me more employees. Apparently my entire crew died in a tragic accident regarding a T-Rex."

He walked off into the building quickly, the grin on his face widening with each step. His coworkers were speechless. Shaking. Shivering. Heads were spinning. Whatever had led them to be in this position was now regretful. They looked to each other with both understanding and pity.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had shut his eyes, fighting off the feeling of weariness that was trying to overwhelm him. He couldn't succumb to the pain, even if the Sonic's whir seemed to be ingrained in his skull. He had to think. Get everyone safe. Take them all home. Live to save more. But here, in these ropes; in this jungle; none of that seemed possible in the slightest.

Clara suddenly gasped, eyes widening to their fullest extent. They were focused on a spot directly to her right, where stood a very large, very hungry looking Velociraptor. The Doctor was out of it. The scientists were at their wits' end. It was just her at the edge of the clearing, facing a dinosaur that was at least twice her size. All was lost.


	10. Chapter 10

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 10

"Oi, Toothy!"

Clara closed her eyes and sighed inwardly. The Doctor was trying to save her. Again. Even when he was on the edge of consciousness. Would she ever be worth his friendship?

"Pick on someone your own size."

Clara turned her head towards the Doctor, whom the dinosaur was now stepping towards, albeit slowly. "Commenting about my height right now?"

"Sorry; couldn't help it."

The Doctor turned his attention to the irritated reptile looking for him to be it's next meal.

"You do have a plan, don't you?"

"Of course I have a plan, Clara!"

Clara lost her voice as the velociraptor edged closer to the Doctor. He licked chapped lips, mind racing for something - anything - that would work. Finally a lightbulb lit. "Right. You. With the feathers and claws. How 'bout we finish this right here, right now. Bet you'd like that, wouldn't you?"

The dinosaur paused for a moment. It's ears perked up. Clara was reminded suddenly of the night after the Doctor had regenerated. He had translated the T-Rex's thoughts to her. Perhaps it was a mutual understanding of language.

Suddenly the raptor began sprinting forward, heading straight for the tied up Doctor, class at the ready in front of it's sharp, menacing teeth. Clara's breath left her.

At the very last second, the Doctor shifted just slightly in his bindings, just enough so that the dinosaur missed his body with it's claws and instead tore the rope in half. Clara took a few deep breaths to calm herself while the Doctor got his footing and the dinosaur shook out of it's daze and confusion.

Slowly, his head still throbbing, the Doctor strolled over to the Sonic and untied it from the tree. The button was finally released and the buzzing ended. The Doctor aimed the device at the scientists' and Clara's ropes, setting them free. Their joy was short lived, however, as the dinosaur had just regained its full strength and was now hungry for another try. It turned it's attention to Billings.

The young scientist took a few steps back, tripping over a tree root as he fumbled backwards. West sucked in a quick breath.

"Toothy! I wasn't finished with you yet! Come back over here!"

Clara widened her eyes at him. "Are you insane? That thing can kill you!"

"I dodged it once, Clara."

"You're impossible."

"Thought that was your thing."

"Shut up."

The velociraptor cut into their conversation like a rude party guest. At first, it had only seemed mildly interested in a rematch with the Doctor, but as he and Clara had bickered, it had broken into a fast pace towards him.

The Doctor looked away from Clara just in time to see the raptor gaining on him, it's claws out and it's eyes threatening. He jumped to the side just as he had before, but this time he was a bit slow. One of the raptor's claws scratched a deep gash into his arm while the other scraped against the left side of his torso, ripping a thick line in his white shirt.

The Doctor landed on the ground in a jumble of limbs and stayed there, holding his left arm in a white-knuckle grip with his right.

Clara watched the events unfold with growing fear and dread. She had no idea how hurt the Doctor was, but any injury meant certain death in this predatory forest. She could only pray they got into safety before nightfall.

The velociraptor looped around, preparing it's running stance for another, final, charge at the Timelord. The Doctor didn't even notice. His eyes were shut tightly, teeth grimaced in pain. He wouldn't even see his own death coming.

"Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?"

Billings took a step toward the dinosaur, his fists clenched at his sides. West grabbed his arm.

"What are you doing?"

"That thing is gonna kill him if I don't do something."

He turned to his coworker. "Look, he's saved our lives so many times today. I have to help him. It's my duty."

"But..."

"Haley...just; remember me. Make sure my name gets in the paper. Make them all proud of me.

Billings whistled, calling the raptor's gaze towards him, and then dashed off into the jungle. Just as he had anticipated, the Velociraptor soon chased after him, seeming just a bit slower than its human competitor. West was frozen in shock in the middle of the clearing.

The Doctor let out a pained groan, calling the young teacher back into reality. Almost instantly, Clara kneeled beside him, stroking his hair more for her comfort than his. "Shh; shh. It's alright. The dino's gone at least. Are you ok to walk?"

Slowly, the Doctor sat up, grimacing as the fabric of his shirt scraped against his wounds. "I think. Just; can you tie something around my arm?"

"Can we get that jacket off first? I have to see how bad it is."

She eased off his coat with much precision and gentleness so as not to do any further harm. Upon inspection, his arm just seemed badly scraped up, but there was a fair amount of blood. Clara ripped a portion of his sleeve off and tied it tightly around the limb, earning another pained gasp from the big bad Timelord.

"Haley? Can you help?"

Haley blinked out of her daze and faced Clara. "What?"

"Can you help me get him up?"

"Oh, yeah."

With the two women's assistance, the Doctor clambered to his feet. His right hand instantly went to his left side, where Clara noticed more red fabric. "Are you sure you're alright?"

The Doctor stood up as much as he could and took a few steps towards the building. "I'm fine. We have to get inside. Stop Caine from sending that message. Nobody else can come here."

West followed closely behind him. Clara scooped his coat off the ground, brushing off the dirt and grass that had worked their way into it in the past few minutes. Wrapping the jacket into her arms, she traced the steps of the others, her head still fuzzy from it all, emotions blocked until she could go over everything more clearly. This was surely going to be a trip they felt for weeks to come.


	11. Chapter 11

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 11

Haley pulled at the door handle, letting out a distressed sigh when she found it locked. In her emotionally compromised state, she began banging against the metal, tears threatening to fall. The Doctor slowly lifted his right arm from his side and pulled his sonic out of his inside pocket, a smirk playing at his lips. "There's no need for all that."

The screwdriver whirred in its usual key, sending sparks flying around the hinges as the door jutted open. Clara put a hand on Haley's shoulder as the Doctor passed her the sonic. It was covered in red.

Looking at the two broken forms in front of her, one crying from remorse and one holding his side in pain, Clara realized she was the only hope in saving the day. It was time for the Impossible Girl to do something Impossible.

The velociraptor was still in the cage, and had begun barking when the door had blown open. Caine was staring at the three figures with nothing but fury in his eyes. "How did you manage that?"

The Doctor limped forward another step. "You're not very good at tying knots. It's no wonder you're still single."

A flash of a grin appeared on Clara's face before the Doctor heaved a great sigh and closed his eyes. "Doctor, let me handle this."

His blue eyes looked into hers with thankfulness and he quickly leaned against the wall, barely standing. Clara glanced to Haley and took her hand. Together they stepped forward.

"What; do you think you're going to stop me? It's a bit late for that, sweetheart. The message has been sent. Reinforcements are coming. Now, you wanna do this the easy way or the hard way?"

Clara crossed her arms in defiance, though her heart was hammering in her chest. Caine's lips curled into a sneer. "Ah, come on! You've lost! Just go home. Toddle on. Leave this to the big boys."

Haley's hand fell out of Clara's grasp. Her eyes were lit. Her eyebrows were furrowed. Her shoes padded across the floor in five steps and the hand that had been holding Clara's whipped across her head scientist's face in a flurry of movement. Clara blinked a few times to make sure all of this had actually happened.

Caine rested a hand on his pink cheek, the sneer still stuck on his lips. Haley stood tall in front of him. "This woman is more of what society refers to as a 'man' than you could ever be, Caine."

"Do you think I care? I've won. My research will continue. I'll be the most famous paleontologist in all of time. All I need is the tracker and the screwdriv-"

Caine froze. Every muscle. Every inch of him. His eyes were still staring into Haley's, but they now held only fear. "Wh-where'd you put the screwdriver?"

Clara held up the device, raising an eyebrow. "Why does it matter?"

Caine took a step back, his face falling. "Put that thing outside. Right now. Do it!"

Haley looked at the Sonic and back at the scientist. "Sir?"

"You idiots don't get it? Every one of my experiments has been signaled to it. I was going to disconnect it from here when you were killed. Now put that thing-!"

The door banged against the wall beside the Doctor, reverberating the sound through the whole lab a few times. Clara's eyes widened to their largest size possible. "Oh my God."

The Doctor ran as fast as he could over to where Clara and the scientists stood. Another velociraptor stood in the doorway, trailed by a small Dodo bird. The dinosaur in the cage was frantically banging against its prison, struggling to get out and reach its friend and prey.

Clara grabbed her human and Timelord companion by the shoulder and ushered them slowly backwards, towards the door to the garage. Caine fumbled his stun gun into his hands and shot at the raptors, sending them slowly to sleep as they lost their footing. "You bloody menaces!"

Clara couldn't tell if he meant them or the dinosaurs, but in either case, she quickened her pace, practically dragging her emotionally and physically wounded comrades through the chaos. The door to the garage was difficult to budge, especially with two full grown adults in tow, but Clara managed it with the adrenaline spurring her forward.

The sight of the glowing blue box lifted the young human's spirits as she pulled out the key, letting the others rest leaned against the doors as she did so. Her hand shook anxiously, but somehow she found the keyhole and pushed her way into the beloved time machine, the light flooding her like a welcome banner. The Doctor and Haley clumsily made their way into the ship, The Doctor grunting and Haley sniffing, and Clara followed soon after, shutting the doors heavily behind them.

She eased the Doctor to the floor and glanced at his injuries, which only seemed to be getting worse, before turning to Haley with determination written in her eyes. "I have to go stop him."

At this, the Doctor opened his eyes and attempted to stand, but Clara gently pushed him back down to lean against the console. "Clara; no; don't go out there on your own."

"Someone has to set this right."

Clara wrapped his coat tighter around him and put a hand on his face. "I'll be back soon. Just stay here and take care of yourself."

Clara stood as the Doctor's eyes fluttered closed. Quietly, he breathed her name. It broke her to see him this fragile, but it also sparked an anger in her she had never really known. The man whose voice had turned armies away; whose mere presence sparked fear in the cruelest of people; was now reduced to a whisper, curling in on himself. Her Doctor; and Caine had hurt him. Hot red sparks flew around Clara's subconscious. Maybe later there would be time for thinking and debating, but for now there was action to take.

Haley was hugging her knees on the floor, staring into a spot in the distance. Clara knelt in front of her. "Hey, Haley? I know how awful this day has been, but I really need you to watch him for me, okay? Don't let him be an idiot. If anything happens, tell me. Okay?"

Haley nodded in agreement. Clara stood nervously, gazing at the doors with growing hesitation. "I'll be back soon."

After one last look at the small forms of her friends, Clara exited the safety of the TARDIS with one thought on her mind: she was going to save the Doctor, Haley, and all of those dinosaurs if it was the last thing she ever did.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you guys for reading and reviewing! There's a fair amount of Doctor Whump in this chapter, fyi, so beware. Hope you enjoy!**

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 12

Clara took a shaky step out of the TARDIS. The light beamed through the cracks of the garage door ahead, giving the illusion that the door was an oncoming train. It sure felt like it.

Another shaky step and sound from the other side of the door began penetrating Clara's ears. Dinosaurs; Caine's gun firing every few seconds; scratching; clawed feet on tile. For a moment, the young teacher froze, gripping the Sonic tightly. What was the point anymore? They could just leave. The dinosaurs would surely sort themselves out. One thought spurred her forward: Caine had sent for reinforcements. More people were coming. More people would be killed. It was all up to her. She had to save the future; many futures.

Before she realized it, she was shoving through the door and entering a frenzy. Caine was leaned against the front door, trying desperately to keep the velociraptors (and the many other prehistoric creatures that had been signaled) at bay behind the safety of locked metal, but the dinosaurs had strength and numbers on their side. His gun lay forgotten beside him, along with a few unconscious reptiles.

Clara joined Cain at the door, earning a slightly high pitched scream from him as she surprised him that she couldn't help but smirk at. The scary had become the scared.

With both of them pushing on the door, it mercifully closed, locking them into the safety of the base. Now only Caine stood in the way of a peaceful conclusion.

Instantly, the head scientist grabbed for his gun, but Clara was ahead of him. Without even looking, she pushed the weapon away with her foot. As it began to slide on the pristine floor, time seemed to slow way down. First, Caine's eyes widened and a loud, incoherent shout escaped him, forcing Clara's eyebrows to furrow in confusion and her head to turn to the source of his distress. When her eyes landed on the gun sliding ceaselessly towards one of the sleeping velociraptors, her heart skipped a beat. "No!"

Both humans watched in terror as the metal connected with flesh. As the dinosaur slowly opened it's eyes, fury written clearly in its pupils. As movement returned to the beast's limbs, allowing it to gain its footing and stand, albeit slowly.

Clara shut her eyes. Her heart was racing faster than it ever had. After all of the adventures; all of the running; all of the monsters; she was about to be dino dinner. Her eyes shot open as another thought broke in. The Doctor. He was hurt. Really hurt. He couldn't possibly get to safety without her; Haley didn't know how to fly the TARDIS. And Haley. She'd be trapped in the time machine without a way home. Unless somehow the TARDIS could drive herself, which didn't seem likely, Clara was her only chance of getting home.

The velociraptor was approaching with increasing velocity, but Clara was set. She wasn't going to die. Not here, not now; no way. She had a duty of care. People to protect. To help. She would get back to them, even if it killed her.

With the Sonic in a death grip in her fingers, she raised her hand to point the device directly towards the tracker on the dinosaur's neck. "Setting...setting..."

The enormous reptile was drawing near now and Caine was watching her with silent reverie. His throat had stopped working about a minute before. Clara's mind traced back to when the Doctor had used the Sonic earlier that day. What on earth had the setting been?

A light bulb flicked on in Clara's brain. How could she have been so stupid? The Doctor had put in a reset function just a week before. How had she forgotten? As she turned the head of the screwdriver once clockwise, the setting flipped to 32. With the dinosaur standing right in front of her, ready to strike, she pressed the button and whirred the Sonic over the velociraptor's tracker, making it spin around to face the teleport machine on the far side of the room, seemingly paralyzed. Clara let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and collapsed against the wall, closing her eyes and thanking every higher being she had ever heard of. Caine was on the floor breathing heavily.

Slowly, Clara made her way to the teleport, using the Sonic to change it back to the previous setting that the Doctor had had it on. Instantly the velociraptor cawed and ran through the teleportation beam. Clara allowed a quick smile before turning to Caine, who was back to his normal threatening self. "I can still change it back."

"When are you going to admit that it's over?"

"When my research is complete."

Caine had backed Clara closer and closer to the computer of the teleport, his fists clenched and his arms tense by his side. Clara fumbled over a chair but caught herself on the tabletop. Caine was right above her now, ready to break through her if he had to. It was almost worse than the velociraptor.

From behind the large human came an even larger shadow. One of the unconscious velociraptors. Awake. Clara didn't have time to warn him before the dino had clawed through him and pushed him to the side of the room as it ran for the teleporter. Caine's pained yelling echoed through Clara even as she made a dash for the garage door, stopping only to Sonic open the front door. She watched only for a second as the dinosaurs piled in, running into the teleporter as if in a trance. Clara felt a weight lift from her chest. The dinosaurs were going home. If the Doctor had set it correctly, that is.

Clara opened the garage door slowly, finally allowing a smile to creep onto her face. They were going to be alright. Everything would go back to normal. They survived.

Her newfound peace was short lived, however, as her eyes landed heavily on the supine figure of the Doctor in Haley's arms on the floor. The scientist looked up at the teacher with a mix of fear and relief. "Clara! We heard you scream...he went to check on you. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me."

The words went through Clara, landing somewhere in her subconscious. Her focus was on her best friend; inert and pale in front of her. Her knees collided with the floor painfully as she bent beside the Doctor, eyes scanning over his torn and stained shirt. "Oh, Doctor."

She found her fingers running through his curly hair automatically, at which point she blinked out of her daze and turned her attention to Haley, features rigid, emotions suppressed once more. "In the TARDIS, there's a medical kit under the Console, right under the red lever. Can you get it for me?"

Haley nodded and hurried into the blue box. Clara took this time to inspect his wounds more thoroughly, peeling away the sticky shirt and carefully moving his injured arm to his side. The sling she had fastened earlier had fallen off anyway.

Judging that he had lost a lot of blood, Clara began applying pressure to the cut on his side, earning a pained gasp from a finally awakening Timelord. "Shh; I know it hurts but you might still be bleeding."

His eyes opened halfway. Clara could tell he was still hurting, but a crooked smile crept into his face anyway. "Clara...I thought..."

Clara ran one hand over his cheek, keeping the other pressed on his side. "Shh; don't talk. We're all okay now."

Haley exited the TARDIS with the small medical bag in tow. She kneeled beside Clara and opened it shakily. "What do you need?"

"Are there any bandages?"

Haley dug in the bag as Clara bit her lip anxiously. The Doctor's breathing was becoming more labored and fast, eyes closed again. "Haley..."

"I'm looking; here!"

Haley practically threw the roll of white bandages into Clara's open hand. Instantly, the teacher began unrolling them, wrapping them as gently as she could around the semi-conscious Doctor. She froze as she came to his side, where his body met the floor. "Haley, can you lift him up for me?"

"Ugh..."

"Never mind. You wrap these around him while I hold him up, okay?"

"Right."

Clara slowly lifted her hand off of his wound and handed the bandages to Haley. In a matter of seconds, their spots were switched and Clara was carefully wrapping her hands beneath the arms of her best friend. "Doctor; you still awake?"

A quiet groan answered her. "Listen; this might hurt a bit, alright?"

Hesitantly, Clara lifted up the Timlord, leaning most of his weight against her to stabilize him. He cried out as his body was moved. "I'm sorry. It's just for a little bit, okay?"

Haley worked quickly, wrapping the bandages around his torso, but still it felt like years had passed. Clara's arms threatened to give out beneath the awkward weight of the Doctor, but she held on, though shaking.

Finally, Haley finished her job and put the leftover bandages into the bag. Clara set the Doctor back on the floor carefully, her hands still shaking though they weren't bearing any weight anymore. The two women sat beside the barely conscious man on the metal floor, looking at each other with thankfulness and pride. A shared smile passed between them.


	13. Chapter 13

Jurassic TARDIS Ch. 13

A deathly silence had befallen the small garage, leaving only the hum of the TARDIS and fading footsteps of straggling dinosaurs as background noise. Clara's hands were both for the Doctor; one holding his hand and one stroking his hair. Haley was leaned against the wall, watching the two friends with a mixture of sadness and happiness that the Doctor would have probably commented on if he had enough energy to do more than stare up at Clara. The way they were looking at each other, deeply, fondly, reminded her of all of the best friends she had lost in the course of 24 hours. Scott. Feldman. Billings. Even Caine had had his moments. All gone now.

"Hey, you alright?"

Haley hadn't known she'd been crying until Clara's pitiful look was directed at her. She quickly brushed away the tears from her face. "Fine, fine. Sorry. Bad day."

"You'll be home soon."

"Yeah."

Dr. West looked down at the floor. She vaguely heard the Doctor begin to sit up across the room. "Hey, take it easy."

Clara's voice was soothing, but there was an anger there, too. Anger at Caine? The dinosaurs? The universe, perhaps? Haley couldn't tell for certain.

The Doctor's hand instinctively went to his left side, but slowly dropped it as the pain ebbed away. "It's fine, Clara. Healing gauze. Fixes minor injuries in ten minutes or your money back."

The Timelord quickly unwrapped the bandages from his torso, revealing clean, unblemished skin underneath. "See? Perfect."

Clara couldn't hold back the smile from her face as she threw her arms around her best friend. The Timelord allowed his head to rest on her shoulder as she laughed out her withheld nerves. Haley felt a pang in her chest and got to her feet, turning away sharply. Her phone clattered to the floor from the sudden movement.

Haley froze as she gazed down at the small metal rectangle, her hand beginning to shake. Clara considered asking her if she was alright again, but thought better of it. Of course she wasn't okay.

The scientist picked up the phone and stared at it for another few seconds before looking to the Doctor and his companion. "Billings had his phone on him. If he's still out there, he'll pick up, right?"

Clara bit her lip and glanced to the Doctor for support. "Haley...just...don't get your hopes up too high."

Haley's eyebrows furrowed. "I am a scientist. I've learned how to calculate probability. But if there's even a one percent chance that he's still alive, shouldn't I try?"

Clara looked down at the floor as Haley's shaking fingers pressed the call button over Billings' name. It began ringing in her ear, but all she could hear was her heart pounding. Every muscle was tense. Every breath held in until the moment of truth. After three rings, her eyes began to water; from stress or fear or sadness, Haley didn't know. But then the ringing stopped. Haley's fingers momentarily stopped working as Billings' voice came through the speaker.

"Haley…"

Her smile reached across her entire face. Her laugh echoed through the room. "Billings! You're alive! Where are you? We can come find you!"

His heavy breathing was his first reply. Then, slowly, his soft voice entered Haley's ringing ears. "Haley...I; I couldn't run quick enough...I'm s-sorry. Don't worry about me. Go home. Please. For me."

Haley's smile faded as fear took hold again. "Wh-what do you mean? Billings? Ian?"

A pained shout nearly stopped her heart. "I'm...I'm dying, Haley. But that's okay."

"No, that's not okay. Tell me where you are! We can help; the Doctor can save you-"

"Haley. Please. There's nothing; nothing to be done. I don't want you to see me like this. Just g-go. Live. Get that Nobel Prize you deserve."

Tears were falling freely down Haley's cheeks now. "Ian. I-I love you."

Ian's breathing hitched in his throat. "I...I know. And Haley?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

The phone went silent. Haley gaped at the screen, unable to process what had just happened. Ian. Billings. He was gone. Truly gone. Half of her wanted nothing but to go to him. See him once more. But the scientist side of her knew better. She didn't really want to see him like that. Bleeding; dying on the ground; probably torn to pieces. So she went with her second option. After throwing the phone at the wall with as much force as possible, she sat against the wall with her face hidden in her arms. Clara's warm embrace surrounded her instantly, but it wasn't enough. Nothing would be enough. What on earth was she supposed to do now? Where was she supposed to go? For now, these questions merely danced around her screaming head as she rid herself of tears.

When Haley has finally come back to the present and gotten her footing, Clara took her hand in her own and led her into the TARDIS. The Doctor had shuffled in on his own fifteen minutes before, muttering something about a fuse or pipe that had to be repaired. Clara had seen straight through that lie, but she forgave him for not wanting to hear the scientist's crying anymore. It had been way more than a rough day for all of them. All she wanted to do was lie down for a few days and forget any of this happened.

But life keeps moving, even when we think it should stand still. The Earth still turns; people still go to work; children keep growing; even when our worlds are falling apart. So instead of sleeping in the time machine for a week or two, the three weary adventurers found themselves outside of the science lab Haley West and her crew had come from, saying their goodbyes at the threshold of the TARDIS as hovercars glided by.

Haley's eyes were glistening with the promise of home, but Clara noted that she seemed so much older; so much wiser than she had when they had met her just a day before. Her hair was neatly tied back and her shoes were freshly washed, hiding any lingering reminders of the torturous woods they had spent so much time in. Just as she exited the blue box with wonder written on her every feature, a puzzled look came upon her. "What am I supposed to do now? I've seen dinosaurs; a time machine that's, what, bigger on the inside; all my coworkers are dead...nobody will trust a word I say. I'll sound like a raging lunatic."

The Doctor dug in his pocket with his right hand; his left arm was again in a sling, as Clara had missed a few spots with the healing gauze. Out he pulled a small metal oval and tossed it to Haley. "This'll explain everything. There were security cameras all over the base; microphones on all of your equipment. They'll know what happened."

Haley gazed at the small device in her hand before stuffing it in her own pocket. Then she looked up at Clara. "Alright. But...what do I do now?"

The young teacher's lips curled into a small smile. "You keep going. Create a new life. Move forward. Make discoveries. Your life doesn't end because of tragedy...sometimes it starts with it, actually."

Clara looked knowingly at the Timelord by her side as Haley returned her smile. "Well...thank you both for saving my life. Who knows? Maybe I'll name something after you someday."

The scientist made her way into the building with two time travelers watching her every step. As she crossed the threshold into the glass building, Clara turned and paced towards the Console. The Doctor shut the doors and followed.

The brunette leaned against the metal, watching the Doctor with curiosity as he flicked a few switches, moving a bit slower than usual with one arm instead of two. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

"Dr. Haley West do you mean the greatest paleontologist/biologist that ever roamed the planet Earth? The woman who discovered five completely new species and later found comparable specimens on Mars? Nah, she'll probably end up living on a street corner somewhere near Leeds."

Clara's eyes sparkled in the light. "Are you serious? All that? How does she manage?"

"Like you said; sometimes tragedy can inspire a whole new outlook on life. It can make you bolder and stronger and braver. And, in rare cases, it can make you even more beautiful than you've ever been before."

Clara's mouth parted slightly as the Doctor's last sentence entered her brain, his eyes piercing hers but slowly widening in a deer-in-headlights like horror. "Sorry, did I say beautiful? I mean, umm, imaginative."

Clara's face was blushing pink, but the Doctor's was a deep shade of red. The young human watched in pity as he fumbled with some controls and adjusted the console screen, pretending to be reading coordinates. A smile crept onto Clara's lips.

The Doctor cleared his throat roughly as he furrowed his gaze down at the controls. "Right, so, where to next? It's my turn to choose, correct?"

"Woah, woah, woah; not so fast. I need a shower and a good book before we go anywhere else and you need some tea and sleep."

"I'll just put some more bandages on the arm; it'll be fine in twenty minutes."

Clara raised her eyebrows. "Did you see how much blood you lost? I'm not about to go dashing about with an anemic Timelord. Go rest a bit and we'll travel when you're well again. When I say you're well."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at his companion. "Clara, honestly-"

"No arguing. Go to bed."

"Clara-"

"Go to bed!"

With a dramatic sigh, the fully grown, big, bad Timelord sulked away, looking like a two year old who had just been put in time out. Clara smiled to herself for being able to get him to obey, for once, but watched him protectively until he was halfway through the corridor. Her face fell as she looked down at her ripped and wrinkled clothes. It had been one hell of a day, that was sure. In fact, it had been a complete nightmare. But they were safe. In the TARDIS. Alive. And that was all that mattered to her.

With one last glance at the Time Rotor, Clara skipped out of the Console room behind the Doctor, her smile returning slowly. She had met dinosaurs today. She had really met proper dinosaurs. None of her Jurassic World fanatic friends could say that, could they?

 **Well, there you have it! The final chapter! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and just being part of the long, sometimes inactive journey of this story. I'm probably not going to be writing any more series like these for a while, but I am taking ideas for oneshots (especially with 12 and Clara) Thank you again!**


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